Dyslexia

[QuizmasterG]

A friend has gone to great lengths and expense to "prove" that her son is "mildly dyslexic".

Are there different levels of dyslexia or is it a case of "you either have it or you don't" ?

I would not wish this real problem on anyone but I feel this may be a case of a wealthy person trying not to accept there less than average child may be pretty stupid.

Can anyone clarify the second paragraph - or has come across similar scenarios as outlined in the third paragraph?

[wildwood]

There are many levels of severity, from mildly to extreme. In mild cases the person can live quite a full life without most people around them being aware of their condition.

On average, wealthy people have a higher than average intelligence so it is quite possible that your friend's son has dyslexia. It is the law averages that if your friend is intelligent, her son will be at least bright.

NOTE; before I get hung, drawn and quartered, intelligence has nothing to do with how nice or amicable a person is.

[Ethel]

This is the best place for information:

http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/aboutdyslexia.ht ml

Dyslexics are often highly intelligent and are very good at some complex things such as maths, chess and sciences.

Your friend is right to fight for the diagnosis so her son can get the proper help he needs.

[beatlegal2]

i t does help to have a difinitive answer,both my son and me are dyspraxic and dyslexic and it is very frustrating.when she knows she can seek the right educational help cos until she can the lea wont give it.

[Loosehead]

These days there is a tendency to relate any shortcomming to some sort of syndrome. True dyslexia is rare, most people that claim to have it are just bad at spelling. I'm not very good at spelling myself but I don't claim to have dyslexia. I don't think it's an intelligence issue either way. I doubt her son has it.

[beatlegal2]

oh yes i agree never judge.my son is a doctor very brainy boy but because of dyslexia he can get help with locums, computers etc,noway he get help if not properly diagnose.

[sandbach99]

Both my daughter and her son had dyslexia, I say had because some dyslexics can be cured very easily.

Take the child to an optician and ask for him to be tested to be sure he can see all colours. I know this sounds stupid but black is a multitude of colours and some people cannot see a colour.

The optician then can give you glasses with this missing colour as lens, daughter had bright orange, grandson purple. Get the cheapest frames possible as the eyes learn to see this colour and within a week or two the glasses are hardly needed.

Ignore the school saying they have done tests, they don't.

This does not work for all but if it does the half hour or so at the opticians is worth every second.

Also get the tablets at the chemist that have fish oil in, they can help as well.

My daughter was 21 when I first heard about this, she left school unable to read or write properly, went to college passed practical exams, failed written, Got glasses resat written exams and passed.

I know it sounds crackers, ring some opticians see if they do the tests and make an appointment there is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[Ice.Maiden]

I've no wish to complicate matters, but I know someone who was diagnosed with dyslexia and went on to get a degree. To answer QuizmasterG, these sort of problems DO have degrees of severity, as with dyspraxia, autism and so on.
Wildwood - you're making wild guesses there. The intelligence of the parents has no medical bearing on whether a child'll be dyslexic or not, and autism, which is largely misunderstood, has now been attributed to children who, in the past, were classed as just being "slow". In fact, American research indicates that the parents or grandparents are liable to be professional people, who've often worked in the engineering line.

[wildwood]

Ice.Maiden, If you're going to commend on other people's answers, please get it right.

There is no doubt that intelligent parents are more likely to have intelligent children than non-intelligent parents.

How many wealthy people do you know that are stupid? It is reasonable to assume that the parents are therefore intelligent and the child is likely to suffer from dyslexia and not be so stupid as to only appear dyslexic.

I fail to see where I made any assumption that dyslexia is associated with the intelligence or lack thereof of any person. My assumption is based on this partcular case as it should be.